JISC

Desk top study: The review and mapping of a defined set of e-Learning development activities  

The recent years have seen an increasing development of Managed Learning Environments (MLEs) in a range of HE and FE institutions to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning they provide. Common criticism of MLE developments has been their “additive” approach to connecting components. The JISC Technical Framework and Tools Strand intends to provide HE and FE institutions with toolkits to implement relevant components of a service-oriented MLE infrastructure defined in the JISC e-Learning Technical Framework to Support e-Learning. A number of existing e-Learning systems, standards and technology platforms appear to have relevance to the Framework and may have some bearing on the programme’s future development activity.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of the project is to collate, analyse, and map where appropriate or possible a set of existing e-Learning technology development activities to the JISC e-Learning Technical Framework.

The specific objectives are to:

• Review the current thinking on existing developments of the e-Learning systems, specifications, standards, and technology platforms in relation to the aims and objectives of the Framework.
• Map the existing developments to the relevant services of the Framework.
• Draw recommendations with regard to the initiatives reviewed in Objective 1 and the levels at which JISC can engage with the relevant bodies.
• Produce formal reports containing the outcomes of the above reviews.

Project Methodology

The methodology used will follow three main stages: Preparation, Review, and Further Analysis. The Preparation stage will set the scope of the review and define templates for reviewing existing e-Learning developments. In the Review stage a number of e-Learning implementations (e.g. WebCT Vista, SAKAI and ioNodes), e-Learning specifications (e.g. OKI and IMS Abstract Framework), and e-Learning technology platforms (e.g. .Net and J2EE) will be assessed according to the templates created in the first stage. Based on the findings, areas of commonalities and the level of relevancy between the developments reviewed and the services specified in the JISC e-Learning Technical Framework will be established. The project will conclude by formulating recommendations with regard to individual e-Learning developments and their role within the JISC e-Learning Technical Framework.

Deliverables

The findings will inform the JISC Committee for Learning and Teaching and the JISC Executive in regard to the future development of the JISC Technical Framework by providing information on existing e-Learning developments and specifications and their applicability to the common services specified in the Framework. The findings will also be disseminated more broadly to HE and FE institutions wishing to implement flexible service-oriented MLEs. The project will generate and disseminate an overview of existing e-Learning developments, a set of reusable service patterns, and requirements for their interoperability. This can act as an initial reference point to VLE and MLE developers in conjunction with the toolkits produced by the JISC Technical Framework and Tools Strand. Ultimately, the project will inform efforts in developing institutional and multi-organisational architectures of services for e-Learning at HEIs and FEIs.

Project Partners
This project will be will be implemented by a partnership between the Technology-Assisted Lifelong Learning unit, as the principal investigator, and the Learning Technologies Group of the University of Oxford, as the main consultation partner.